Warde tennis team serves up aid for autism organization

Published 4:49 pm, Friday, August 6, 2010

The Fairfield Warde boys tennis team recently took part in a Serve-A-Thon and bake sale to benefit Autism Speaks. Jake Blumenfeld, a junior on the boys' varsity team, was the catalyst behind the event. "The number of children affected by autism rose from one in 150 kids to one in 110 kids in the last year. I thought this would be a great event in light of this being National Autism Awareness Month," he said.

He rallied the boys' teams, along with Varsity Coach Shelley Visinski and JV Coach Dan Rosen. Every player was given a pledge sheet and given the opportunity to raise donations. The premise was to have each player attempt 100 serves on the court. Charles Akinloye of the Trumbull Racquet Club provided a speed clock so players could challenge themselves to see who had the fastest serve. Ben Berkowitz, co-captain of the varsity team, won the fastest-serve contest, clocking in at a speed of 102 mph.

"I am so proud of Jake for all of his hard work on this project. The team collected over $1,000. Service is such an important part of building strong character. I encourage the team to do a service project each year. I am so proud Jake came up with a plan and followed through to make it a very successful event. No matter how busy we are, we should always make time to help others," Visinski said.